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Jersey to be removed from French uncooperative jurisdictions list

By Emily.Perryman

Created 05/11/2013 - 15:40

Jersey’s government has received assurances from the French Finance Ministry that the island will be removed from France’s list of uncooperative jurisdictions in due course.

Officials from Jersey met with senior officials from France’s Ministry of Finance last week and were told that Jersey’s significant efforts to ensure tax information requests are responded to swiftly and effectively are being recognised by French officials.

Jersey Finance chief executive Geoff Cook (pictured) says: “Jersey’s government has given this issue the highest priority, and their most recent meeting with French officials was clearly a constructive one. The focus now is on ensuring that the French authorities are happy with the speed and efficacy of how Jersey responds to information requests, under Jersey and France’s existing Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA).

“The issue initially was related to some outstanding requests for information that were being appealed through the Jersey courts. With those cases due to be heard shortly, Jersey can demonstrate to France’s satisfaction that it is exchanging information effectively, and it can be removed from France’s list, which is welcome news.

“It is important to stress that Jersey has an excellent track record of exchanging information under the terms of its network of 32 TIEAs, and, underlining its commitment to meeting international obligations, amendments are now being made to the regulations relating to information exchange which should further reassure foreign tax authorities.”